Life After Death

Annie
I opened my eyes, smiling softly when I took in the soft, silky plant above me. I reached up to run my fingers along one of the veins before letting my eyes drift close again as I continued to stroke the plant. I was always told that when you left Earth to come into the Goddess’ realm, you traveled in the vine pods. As my brain started playing the violent memories of what happened right before I fell out of the window, I realized that all of my pain was gone. Instead, I was floating on the wings of the purest feelings of love and peace.
The pod started to move, and I was absolutely floored by how smoothly the ground around me trembled. A few short moments later, the pod slowly began to open to reveal the brightest, blue sky above me. I raised my hand up to shield my face, lying still inside the pod while my eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness. When I was able to lower my arm, I broke into a brilliant smile before it was wiped off my face as I reached sadly upward.
“Logan?” I whispered. “Are you really here?”
He took my hand before pressing our joined hands to his cheek as he looked into my eyes. “Yes, Annie. I’m really here.”
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured.
“Sorry? Why are you sorry, beautiful?” He asked.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you,” I whimpered. “I wasn’t good enough.”
He turned his face to kiss my hand with his eyes still on mine. “What do you think happened?”
“I died. You died. We died. Didn’t we?”
“No, Annie, we didn’t,” he told me, chuckling softly. “We are both very much alive.”
When I went to sit up, he helped me, which allowed me to look around. I was shocked to see that I was on the ground right below a broken window. I cleared my throat nervously.
“If we’re not dead, is…” I took a deep breath. “Where is Gerry?”
Logan’s jaw clenched immediately. “Gerry?”
“Yes, Gerry.” I crawled into Logan’s lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. “He was hurting you because of me. I don’t want him to do it again. So, where is he?”
He wrapped his arms around my waist. “Don’t worry about him, sweetheart. Osprey is with him.”
I raised my head to sniff the air, only picking up my brothers’ scents. “Where are my parents?”
“They went home with Elena and Beanie,” Logan told me.
My eyes widened. “Elena and Beanie were here?”
“Yes, Annie.”
“Why?”
“Osprey needed help with Gerald. Elena came to help. Once they got him under control, they all left,” Logan informed me.
“But he’s okay?” I asked anxiously.
“Yes. Why does he matter so much to you?” He growled.
I sighed as I tilted my head back and gripped his face with both of my hands. “Because as angry as I am with him, he is still my brother, and I love him. Before you showed up, we were in a good place, and he was so kind to me.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “Do you really not remember everything that happened between you and him?”
I put my finger over his lips, silencing him. “If I don’t, then I don’t want to know. I want to let this end with the thought that everything was fine between us. I know I should have never gotten involved with him. I knew I had a mate out there. I knew it was a very real possibility that I would find him. I knew how much he loved me. I should have been smarter. I am so sorry that I wasn’t. Meeting you was unexpected, and I couldn’t hold myself back. I just wanted you. It didn’t matter who was around,” I confided. “So, I’m as much to blame, if not more, than Gerry. And unless you reject me and walk away, I still want to be with you.”
He lifted me a little to give me a soft kiss. “I’m not rejecting you, Annie. You are mine, and I will be damned if I let you go.”
I relaxed against him. “I died, Logan. I know I did. You saved me.”
He nodded. “And I will always save you.”
I ran my fingers through his hair as I melted against him. “You said something to me while I was dying. What was it?” I asked, already knowing what it was.
“I said a lot of things. I told you to hold on, and that help was coming,” he said slowly.
“No. Not that. There was something else. What was it?”
“I said that I love you,” he told me hesitantly.
“That’s what I thought,” I whispered as I nuzzled into his throat. “Do you want to know what I did while I was fading away?”
“If you want to tell me, yes,” he answered.
“I thought to myself, ‘I love you too, Logan.’ And then I prayed that you could hear me.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” he murmured as he laid his cheek on my forehead.
He started to rock me back and forth, cradling me close to his chest. “I was so worried, Annie. For the last 42 hours, all I have been able to do is pray, begging for you to come back to me. I wanted nothing more than to look into your gorgeous green eyes again.”
I smiled against his throat. “Really?”
“Yes.”
I remained quiet for a minute before pulling back to look into his eyes. “What happens now?”
“What do you want to happen, Annie?”
“Could I have anything?” I asked.
“If I can give it to you, yes. All you have to do is tell me.”
“I want to go back to Havana with you,” I told him shyly, lowering my eyes.
His arms tightened around me, causing my heart to beat wildly in my chest. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I mean, if you want me to come to Havana with you,” I whispered.
“Yes. Goddess, yes, Annie,” he shouted joyfully before lifting me up to kiss me again.
I giggled as I threw my arms back around his neck, leaning against him to kiss him even deeper. When we finally pulled back away from each other, we were both breathless and smiling. He cupped my face.
“I guess in that case, there’s only one question left to ask then,” he said.
“What question is that?” I asked.
“When do you want to go?”
“Now? Can we go now?”
“Yes. Let’s go,” he answered, standing up with me still in his arms.
When he started to walk up the stairs to the porch, I shook my head. “No! Let’s just leave. There’s nothing here that I need. I can get clothes in Havana, right?”
“Yes,” he said instantly.
“And toiletries and everything else I need, right?”
He smiled down at me. “Yes, baby.”
“Then I just want to leave. Leave all my stuff here. I’ll ask Giselda or my family to get it for me later.”
He nodded. “Alright, Annie. Let’s go.”
He carried me back down the stairs to set me in the passenger seat of a Chrysler 300 before hurrying around to the driver’s side. He smiled at me as he held his hand out for me to take, which I did without hesitation. He brought our joined hands to his mouth to kiss the back of mine.
“Are you ready to see your new home?” He asked.
I nodded as I leaned my head back against my seat, watching him as he drove away from the house. “Yes. I am. Do you think Havana will accept me as their Alpha Sow?”
“Yes. They don’t have a choice. You are who I want. You are who I will mark. You were born to be our Alpha Sow. And our Alpha Sow, you shall be.”
I melted inside as he spoke. “I can’t wait to meet everyone. I hope that I will be a good Alpha Sow.”
“You will be.” He smiled at me. “And trust me, my love, I can’t wait to finally have you where you belong.”
“And where is that?”
He glanced at me as his smile got bigger. “By my side, of course.”
I shifted in my seat so that I could lay my head on his shoulder. “Of course. How silly of me.”